He was 89.Mr. 6, 2020. We’re all in trying times but please remember his … By then he had been a disc jockey, radio talk show host and the co-host with “I loved his attitude,” Bob Ley, a longtime ESPN anchor said of Mr. Leonard in a telephone interview. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Lee formed the popular musical group, 'Shirley & Lee,' with Shirley Goodman (also known as Shirley Mae Goodman-Pixley), in 1951, in there native New Orleans, Louisiana. A year later he was teamed with Mr. Mazer on “Sports Extra,” which was something of a prototype of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Mr. Leonard’s sophisticated and occasionally sarcastic style blended well with Mr. Mazer’s passionate approach and encyclopedic recall of sports facts and figures. In 1964, he was hired by WNBC-AM in New York as the host of a daytime talk show. Lee Leonard, an urbane host of sports and entertainment programs who introduced ESPN to a small audience on the day of its debut in 1979, died on Sunday at his home in South Orange, N.J. Mr. Leonard moved on from both jobs within several years to NBC Sports, where he hosted “Grandstand,” a pregame studio show, and later “NFL ’77,” with Bryant Gumbel. The legend of the Lee family curse came to light 20 years after the famous martial artist’s death, when Bruce Lee’s only son, Brandon Lee, was following in his father’s footsteps as both an actor and martial artist. “Sometimes he’d say, ‘Let’s get this show written so we can hang out and tell some lies.’ He was straight out of ‘The Front Page.’ ”Mr. In 1992, Brandon Lee was a star on the rise — the 28-year-old had just landed the biggest role of his career. Leonard brought maturity to the fledgling network. Leonard moved to local television in 1971 as the host of “Midday Live,” a talk show on WNEW in New York. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, he attended Columbia University but did not graduate. R&B/Doo Wop Musician. You just read a tribute posted on social media to honor the life and legacy of someone who recently passed away. Early life. Death & Obituaries : May. One of the original Wood Brothers, Ray Lee Wood passed away overnight. You can click on the above “Read More” button to see the original post on twitter.You can also leave leave a tribute on the comments box. We’re all in trying times but please remember his sister Crystal and the rest of our family.pic.twitter.com/1XPHVmZAnQ Through the years, though, he said he should have stayed with ESPN. Brother to Leonard and the late team founder Glenn Wood, Ray helped shape our team to become what it is today. He served in the Army in Germany during the Korean War.He became interested in broadcasting in the Army, and after his discharge worked as a disc jockey in various cities, including Norfolk, Va., and Cincinnati. He was kind of always starting something new.”Lee Leonard, TV Sports Show Host Who Ushered in ESPN, Dies at 89Lee Leonard on the set of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” He uttered the show’s first words: “If you’re a fan — if you’re a fan — what you’ll see in the next minutes, hours and days to follow may convince you you’ve gone to sports heaven.” Brother to Leonard and the late team founder Glenn Wood, Ray helped shape our team to become what it is today. And it was “SportsCenter’s” inaugural broadcast that launched the network, with Mr. Leonard “If you’re a fan — if you’re a fan — what you’ll see in the next minutes, hours and days to follow may convince you you’ve gone to sports heaven,” Mr Leonard said.After a montage of sports footage, he added, “Yea, verily, a sampler of wonders.”Mr. George Grande, seated at left, and Mr. Leonard on the set of “SportsCenter” in 1979. According to Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz,… One of the original Wood Brothers, Ray Lee Wood passed away overnight. Lee Leonard (April 3, 1929 – December 16, 2018) was an American television personality who was involved in the launch of cable television networks ESPN and CNN. Mr. Leonard stayed with ESPN for only six months, leaving for CNN when it offered him a program covering show business. Leonard stayed at ESPN — which stood for the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network — for about six months, disappointed that it did not live up to the entertainment part of its title and give him a platform to cover show business.“I was tired of sports,” he told the author James Andrew Miller for The network was CNN, which started up in 1980, and it gave Mr. Leonard the entertainment outlet he wanted, a show called “People Tonight.” But his time as its host did not last long.